Its a odd draft this year Godfather32.
Last weekend after the WA V Vic Cty game I left thinking that there wasn't one top 10 draft pick on display in the game and thats an unusual take away from two Division 1 teams. I have been watching and attending the championships for 15 year now and I came away, last Sunday from Subiaco Oval, the most underwhelmed as I can remember ever from a Division 1 game. Vic Cty in particular really disappointed me as I was expecting a much better showing from the Vic Cty plethora of bigger bodied mids.
It may be one of those years when you just take best available player regardless of position and need. For me the stand out, most AFL ready and best player on the ground was Josh Rotham and by some margin. He just looks so poised and moves like an AFL player , the big bonus for a team that gets him is that he doesn't miss targets as his foot skills are elite.
I digress.
This years draft pool doesn't have a Weitering or any stand out top five, rather its thin on elite talent in the first 10 however there is, after that, an evenness to whats available in the next two and a half rounds. In short its an OK draft pool but nothing special. Its true that there are some quite handy academy kids that will feature in the first round, but that doesn't help us.
From a WC perspective I don't see ( at this early stage ) stand out midfield options that will be available at our pick range, now that may change as the Championships unfold and the season as a whole progresses.
Talk of Powell-Pepper as an option has some merit , but we need to be clear he isn't the answer to our midfield woes, I see him a s a flanker that can do some midfield rotations but he isn't a pure mids by any stretch of the imagination and he does have limitations.
Waterman is an interesting one .... just what would be be "a fair spend " to get him. I would be a little hesitant to take him with our second as I am not 100 % convinced that he will project to the next level. Let me qualify that.
He is a good mark and reads the play well and he does have some leadership qualities , thats the good , the bad for me is that he is too much of a spectator and doesn't get his own football when its on the ground. If that aspect of his game doesn't improve then he will an easy player to put a shut down defender on and therefore his influence in a game will be severely compromised, because players are a lot harder to negate if the can get their own football. I will be watching with interest to see how Jake progresses in the remainder of the Champs and how he finishes off the Colts season at Claremont.
That said its not all gloom with this years draft pool as I am encouraged with the number of small forward options that may well be available to us late in the draft, some of whom are right in our own WA backyard. First and foremost I am excited by the AFL prospects of Shai Bolton ( South Fremantle ) and Matt Guelfi ( Claremont ). Bolton in particular excites me, fast , tough no nonsense and an accurate skill set , being 177 and 67, his stature may well see him slide to a deep pick, but his skill set is very, very good. Guelfi is a lot bigger and at 184 and 78 presents as a nice size , he is a player thats very under ratted and is a tough extractor who has good skills.
Also bear in mind that we need to keep some player to delist next year, as we will be wanting to take a lot more picks in next years draft as its already looming as a super draft. I don't think you are going to see many teams trading next years first and second rounders at this year trade week.
So that's a long winded way of answering your question... so NO this years not the year for a massive top up.
I would advocate maybe 4-5 changes this season and have a much more comprehensive clean out at the end of season 2017.
